The treasurer of the BuxMont Women's Shuffle Alley League has been charged with embezzling $3,000 to $5,500 from the club since March 2008. Sharon Beer, 49, of Roseanne Lane, Sellersville, took the money from the West Rockhill Township club by writing herself a series of checks to cover her personal debts, Pennridge Regional police said. Beer was charged Tuesday with 33 counts of theft and receiving stolen property. She was arraigned by District Judge Charles W.

Wally El Chaar considered accepting credit cards at his Allentown auto and notary business, but he feared high processing fees. He had good reason to be wary. El Chaar figured he'd try a machine in February, after a salesman from Summit Merchant Solutions in Texas dropped by unannounced and talked him into it. El Chaar said the salesman offered him a 30-day free trial and portrayed Summit as a family-operated, down-home business, similar to Chaar's Auto Sales and Service and Chaar's Notary and Tag on Union Boulevard.

The scam: Some scams are more believable than others. Some are preposterous and some are just plain loopy. We've Got Your Back reader Dana recently was the recipient of the third kind. How it works: A call to Dana's house had some good news. The caller, supposedly from the Better Business Bureau, had her refund of $590 from a travel agency. That was nice, but Dana said she couldn't recall the last time she used a travel agent. Plus, whoever heard of the Better Business Bureau calling people with cash refunds?

Arrested -- Nathan W. Bedford, 21, of Quakertown; stopped at Allentown and Breisch roads, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday; allegedly possessed cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia; charges to be filed by state police at Dublin at District Judge C. Robert Roth's office, Richland Township, according to state police news release. Forgery -- Benjamin J. Longacre, 28, of 1500 block of Gateway Drive, told state police at Dublin that a subcontracting company working for him forged two checks with his bank account information and cashed them between Feb. 18 and 25; one cleared for $950 and the other resulted in an overdraft.

The scam : An advance payment scam is an advance payment scam, no matter how it's dressed up. There's a new version of this old fraud circulating in local e-mail, as We've Got Your Back reader Harold found out. As he knew, as reasonable as it may sound, you must ignore these entreaties. How it works: Harold received an e-mail from the "Rev. Robert Stone." Unlike many fraudulent e-mails that offer something for nothing, our correspondent was offering $400 for moving services. According to the e-mail, this "missionary" was returning to the United States and wanted someone to move furniture to an apartment.

The scam: Times are tough, even for the slime who try to scam average consumers, so the crooks are ratcheting up their "gifts" and "winnings." Several alert We've Got Your Back readers say they've been targeted by these crooks who are telling people that they've not only won big cash jackpots, but cars as well. As these readers know -- and you should know as well -- it's all phony, a ruse to get you to empty your bank account. How it works: Several readers contacted We've Got Your Back to say they received calls reporting that they won either $1.5 million or $3.5 million, as well as a car. One reader, Bob, said he played along with the phony lottery representative, and was told he could even choose the color of his car. The callers said the company sponsoring the contest was based in Las Vegas.

The scam: The economic downturn has left many consumers in a financial bind. For many, the best course of action might be tightening the belt -- cutting back on spending, lowering expectations and making sure the essentials are covered. But for some, the only solution, even though it comes with its own shackles down the road, is to borrow. There are reputable lenders, and then there are the kinds of lenders who send out scam e-mail. How it works: Several We've Got Your Back readers have forwarded to our attention e-mails offering to "help."

The scam: We've seen the online dating scam, where a thief convinces a lonely heart to send money overseas to pay for travel, health care, vehicle repair and whatever else the thief can imagine. Of course, there is no future mate coming here to meet the money-sender. We've Got Your Back received a new twist on this scam, but still with a message pointed at the heart. How it works: We've Got Your Back got an e-mail from "Sharon John," the 19-year-old daughter of deceased cocoa merchants from the tiny west African nation of Togo.

The scam : Who wouldn't want to find a good deal these days? We're all looking to save a buck or find a bargain. One We've Got Your Back reader found out the hard way that not all bargains are what they seem. He fell for a rip-off that even has its own Wikipedia entry: White van speakers. How it works: Our writer says he was at a local mall when he was approached by two men in a car who asked him if he would be interested in a home theater sound system. They claimed they were installers who had gotten two systems for the price of one, both with suggested retail prices of about $2,500.